Having built the Beetle Convertible for over 30 years, the Karmann plant at Osnabruck began producing the open Golf in 1980. At its debut, it was viewed with suspicion, especially the prominent roll-over bar was not up to everybody’s taste: “Strawberry Basket” quickly became the nickname for the compact VW convertible. And yet, the car was a huge success, not least due to the rigid body, the tight hood and sound workmanship.

When the last models rolled off the production line in 1993, the Golf III had already been on the market for almost two years: The Golf I convertible had outlived the entire Golf II series, which was built no less than 6.3 million times, but of which VW never made an open variant.

What customers appreciated at the time, makes the open Golf a sought-after, stable value collector’s item today. Later models are youngtimers on the clear path to becoming real classics.